Wednesday, March 16, 2005
Marvel vs EA revealed
Ever since Electronic Arts stole the Marvel license away from Capcom the world has been abuzz with the thought of what this partnership would mean for gamers. At the time of the purchase, Marvel said they chose EA over Capcom because of EA's extensive cast of characters. This detail, combined with news that EA would head the development of a fighting game, lead to many jokes involving John Madden and Ty the Tasmanian Tiger getting sliced and stomped by Wolverine and Hulk. Within 24 hours, every gamer had made at least one joke about how they would love to control "Army Guy" or "Car Guy" in a fighting game, all while lamenting the fact that Mega Man would no longer be Dr. Doom's sparring buddy. Apparently, all our simple jokes were for naught. Marvel vs EA, whose real name will be revealed in the following paragraph, will feature brand new EA Super Heroes who will take on Marvel's brightest. I know this is painfully obvious, but it is incredibly sad to think that EA has been around for more than twenty years yet has not made one character worthy of being in a game filled with EA characters. You really have to go out of your way to be that incompetent.
And so, I give you the grand unveiling of...
Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects!
Instead of taking Capcom head-on with a 2D Marvel-themed fighter of their own, EA has gone the route of Powerstone and their own Def Jam series to create a fully 3D fighting title. When I first heard this news I was actually pretty excited. Imagine a huge, thriving metropolis. Towering skyscrapers litter the landscape while passing motorists drive to work. In the distance, there is a bridge and, I don't know, a baseball field. In the middle of this Wednesday afternoon calm, a thundering boom sends shock waves through the city. Gambit was playing poker with Bruce Banner and made the cards blow up just when he was about to lose his hat. A huge fight breaks out - Gambit calls for help from his fellow X-Patriots. Rogue and Nightcrawler bust on the scene to help Gambit before he gets smooshed by Hulk. The four rampage through the city, tearing up buildings, throwing cars and generally being mean.
An original EA Character.... meets Spider-Man
That game sounds fun. If you're having trouble picturing how it would work, combine what you know about Spider-Man 2 (the game, not the shitty movie) with the awesome War of the Monsters. A huge world with every element destructible. A chance to run and hide, to use the environment to your advantage, to fight like a real super hero would fight. A chance to swing through the city as Spider-Man or to slow Wolverine's fall by sticking your claws into a building. Professor X and Daredevil could fight it out in the battle of Don't-Call-Us-Cripples cripples. Picture this online. Picture an even larger city with 8 players duking it out. How about the Fantastic Four squaring off against Doctor Octopus, Dr. Doom and any other doctor you can think of. This is what a 3D super hero fighting game should be. This is what a good developer would do.
While this may actually be the case, early indication is that my imagination is much better than EA's. It seems that the idea of fighting it out in a sprawling metropolis has no chance of actually being the in the game. Instead, we'll see a much smaller arena, probably closer to what you'll find in Def Jam. I don't imagine you'll really be able to throw a building at your opponent, or swing around the city, or even tear up the streets. Instead of pushing the genre to its limits, we'll probably only see Powerstone with super heroes. And while a majority of the fights I mentioned could possibly still happen (albeit with less characters...) throw some lame EA characters into the mix.
It took me less than ten minutes to create what an ideal super hero fighting game would entail. Why hasn't someone made this yet? Why are Powerstone and War of the Monsters still the pinnacle of this genre? Why are developers so reluctant to push the envelope? Why did EA give this game to Nihilistic, the company that was fired by Blizzard for being too incompetent to make Starcraft: Ghost? Most of all, with the ridiculous potential this game exudes, how is anyone going to be able to stomach the purchase of the real title?
And so, I give you the grand unveiling of...
Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects!
Instead of taking Capcom head-on with a 2D Marvel-themed fighter of their own, EA has gone the route of Powerstone and their own Def Jam series to create a fully 3D fighting title. When I first heard this news I was actually pretty excited. Imagine a huge, thriving metropolis. Towering skyscrapers litter the landscape while passing motorists drive to work. In the distance, there is a bridge and, I don't know, a baseball field. In the middle of this Wednesday afternoon calm, a thundering boom sends shock waves through the city. Gambit was playing poker with Bruce Banner and made the cards blow up just when he was about to lose his hat. A huge fight breaks out - Gambit calls for help from his fellow X-Patriots. Rogue and Nightcrawler bust on the scene to help Gambit before he gets smooshed by Hulk. The four rampage through the city, tearing up buildings, throwing cars and generally being mean.
An original EA Character.... meets Spider-Man
That game sounds fun. If you're having trouble picturing how it would work, combine what you know about Spider-Man 2 (the game, not the shitty movie) with the awesome War of the Monsters. A huge world with every element destructible. A chance to run and hide, to use the environment to your advantage, to fight like a real super hero would fight. A chance to swing through the city as Spider-Man or to slow Wolverine's fall by sticking your claws into a building. Professor X and Daredevil could fight it out in the battle of Don't-Call-Us-Cripples cripples. Picture this online. Picture an even larger city with 8 players duking it out. How about the Fantastic Four squaring off against Doctor Octopus, Dr. Doom and any other doctor you can think of. This is what a 3D super hero fighting game should be. This is what a good developer would do.
While this may actually be the case, early indication is that my imagination is much better than EA's. It seems that the idea of fighting it out in a sprawling metropolis has no chance of actually being the in the game. Instead, we'll see a much smaller arena, probably closer to what you'll find in Def Jam. I don't imagine you'll really be able to throw a building at your opponent, or swing around the city, or even tear up the streets. Instead of pushing the genre to its limits, we'll probably only see Powerstone with super heroes. And while a majority of the fights I mentioned could possibly still happen (albeit with less characters...) throw some lame EA characters into the mix.
It took me less than ten minutes to create what an ideal super hero fighting game would entail. Why hasn't someone made this yet? Why are Powerstone and War of the Monsters still the pinnacle of this genre? Why are developers so reluctant to push the envelope? Why did EA give this game to Nihilistic, the company that was fired by Blizzard for being too incompetent to make Starcraft: Ghost? Most of all, with the ridiculous potential this game exudes, how is anyone going to be able to stomach the purchase of the real title?
// posted by Tom @ 7:59 AM 
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